# Correcting Mispronounced Cigar Brand Names



## eventer289 (Mar 26, 2006)

This is kind of a random thread, but I have noticed a lot of mispronunciation of certain brand names of cigars, namely Partagás, Tatuaje, and Carlos Toraño, on some of the podcasts and from other people I know.

*EDITED*: I have noticed that people pronounce Partagás like "*PAR* tuh gis" with the stress going on the "Par" part of the word and the "ta" sounding like "tuh". In spanish, the stress of the word always falls on the second to last syllable unless otherwise noted by a written accent. Partagás has an accent over the third "a" and should therefore be pronounced "Par tah *GOS*" with the "ta" making a "TAH" (like in the name Todd) sound and the stress going on the "gas," sounding like "gos" ( the "o" sound should sound like "ah").

Also, Tatuaje is not pronounced "Tatoo way" or "Tatoo way he." Just as before, the stress falls on the second to last syllable, but the "aje" is prounced like "AH hay" (the AH sounds like the letter "a" in the word "all"). So it should be pronounced "Tatoo *AH* hay"

And one final note. Toraño is not said like "Tor oNo", but like " Toron yo." The "ñ" is said like "ny" so "ño" sounds like "nyo"

*ADDED*: I also remember that I have heard people say Bolívar as " *BALL* iver." But it should actually be pronounced "Bowl *E *var."


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## ghostrider (Oct 30, 2005)

*Re: Pronunciation of Cigar Names*

Ah, obviously someone who has studied spanish, or perhaps visited somewhere south. I was born and raised in South and Central America, so I don't have a problem with the pronunciation. I've run into people who can't, or won't learn the proper way to pronounce them. For some people it's hard to correct yourself when you thought you were saying it the right way all along. Course it could also have something to do with the all illegal immigration in the news, and refusing to have to learn a new language. Whatever. I don't let it bother me anymore. I try to let them know the correct pronunciation once or twice, but after that I give up. I'll still say it right, and if they can't figure it out after that, oh well.


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## joshua-cr (Sep 7, 2005)

*Re: Pronunciation of Cigar Names*

Heres some of the cuban names pronounced:
http://www.mycigarsite.com/subopciones/opcion5a/opcion5aeng.html

There was another site that had them as flash so you could just click, but this has wav files.


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## stormin (Feb 11, 2005)

Interesting post. I went to the B&M just the other day and asked for a product. The B&M man made me feel kind of stupid for mispronouncing the name. Now I'm not an entrepreneurial genius, but I would think that making your customers feel stupid would be bad for business. There's lots of stores left to try and then there's a little thing called the internet.
Just a thought...


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## Da Klugs (Jan 8, 2005)

I thought Paul let coventrycat back in for minute there.


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## White97Jimmy (May 12, 2006)

Its ok...a friend of mine pronounces it "Par Tay Gus". I've corrected him, but he just refuses to believe that he's wrong.


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## eventer289 (Mar 26, 2006)

*Re: Pronunciation of Cigar Names*



joshua said:


> Heres some of the cuban names pronounced:
> http://www.mycigarsite.com/subopciones/opcion5a/opcion5aeng.html
> 
> There was another site that had them as flash so you could just click, but this has wav files.


That is a very good site that has others that I didn't cover. Excellent find.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Pronunciation of Cigar Names*



joshua said:


> Heres some of the cuban names pronounced:
> http://www.mycigarsite.com/subopciones/opcion5a/opcion5aeng.html
> 
> There was another site that had them as flash so you could just click, but this has wav files.


Nice. That is pretty darn moo-ee bway-noh. Always had trouble with that Quai D'orsay.


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## Teninx (Apr 23, 2006)

Way to hard for me. I'm a gorilla; I just point at a cigar and grunt.


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## kansashat (Mar 13, 2004)

Sheeee-it! Most folks cain't even speaka de *Ang*laish around heah.


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## Kayak_Rat (Nov 28, 2005)

I am from Arkansas. NUFF SAID!!


Good post though.


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## st0neski (May 18, 2006)

nice post. I guess for people who have not taken any spanish classes or learned spanish would not know some of these pronunciations.


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

I love to say "bowl-E-var."

Saying "co-RO-na he-GAN-tay" makes me want to throw back my head and slap my chest. But I refuse to remove my black mask.


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## jcruz1027 (Apr 10, 2006)

Interesting post...I'm guilty of this myself. Thanks for the site. I think your average American just doesn't have the accent to pull off pronouncing them correctly. Without the accent, it still sounds like you're butchering the name. I can speak Tagalog but I don't have the Filipino accent so I get strange looks.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

eventer289 said:


> *ADDED*: I also remember that I have heard people say Bolívar as " *BALL* iver." But it should actually be pronounced "Bowl *E *var."


Y'all ain't from Texas, are ya? <G> We manage to mangle more Spanish pronunciations than any other place in the world. Every day in the traffic reports the BALL-iver ferry is mentioned as having XYZ minutes delay...


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## PadronMe (Apr 26, 2005)

Da Klugs said:


> I thought Paul let coventrycat back in for minute there.


Now that is funny.


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

PadronMe said:


> Da Klugs said:
> 
> 
> > I thought Paul let coventrycat back in for minute there.
> ...


A useful, constructive post with no typos or "winkies"?

Not even close.


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## ToddziLLa (Oct 17, 2005)

I took 3 years of Spanish and I know how to say all of the names, however, being American and speaking English, I will say them in whatever way is easiest for me and/or the most "popular" pronunciation.

We don't punch immigrants in the face just because they say one of our words wrong. We know they are foreign and respect that. Cigar names, for the most part, are foreign to us Yankees.


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## 68TriShield (May 15, 2006)

I don't think ebonics would work here.


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## vtdragon (Nov 23, 2005)

So these cigar names are Spanish! 
Hmmm, I'm sure some Spanish speaking person must have traveled through Vermont at some point. There are Spanish speaking skiers aren't there? Next time I see one I'll be sure to try out the new pronunciations I have learned here. Thanks for the informative post.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

vtdragon said:


> So these cigar names are Spanish!


No - Cuban. Same as Spanish but 3x faster. (winkie thingie)


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## aphexacid (May 3, 2006)

I didnt think it was that serious.


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## caskwith (Apr 10, 2006)

this site has them as flash files so its easier ot listen too, cant find the other site that has about 3 times as many pronunciations though.

http://www.simplycigars.co.uk/acatalog/index.html


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## Neuromancer (Sep 7, 2005)

Da Klugs said:


> I thought Paul let coventrycat back in for minute there.


:rmao...


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## moki (Jan 12, 2004)

I've heard more than a few people screw up "Ramón Allones" pronouncing it "al-loan-es"


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## kansashat (Mar 13, 2004)

moki said:


> I've heard more than a few people screw up "Ramón Allones" pronouncing it "al-loan-es"


Well crap......you mean it's not pronounced awl-wons?


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## Mindflux (Dec 5, 2005)

Da Klugs said:


> I thought Paul let coventrycat back in for minute there.


:al :gn


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## King Cat (Dec 10, 2005)

I got a box of Tatuajes a while back, and it took me about a week to get the damn pronounciation down consistently. Now I just love to walk around the house and say "Tatuaje". The other day, however, my wife humbled me VERY quickly. I was about to enjoy one of my Regios so I decided to stump her. I walked into the kitchen and with sort of an arrogant tone, I told her, pronounce this one correctly and you'll get a back massage. Needless to say, my Tatuaje had to wait a little while, until I was done giving my wife a back massage. She nailed it on her first try!


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## SmokusMaximus (Sep 7, 2005)

Da Klugs said:


> I thought Paul let coventrycat back in for minute there.


 Much more funny.

From my limited knowledge of the Latin based romance languages, isn't there something like 17 different dialects of the base Spanish language? And that accent on the syllables is based on the particular dialect?

I only took one year of French and 2 years of German.

Gutentag!


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## eventer289 (Mar 26, 2006)

After listening to the latest DWSC, I wanted to double check my information on the pronunciation of Partagás just to make sure I hadn't made a mistake. I went to google.com.mx (google in spanish) and it yielded multiple results with the same spelling, which makes Par ta GAS still the correct pronunciation. (it's really not that important if people pronounce it correctly or not, I just wanted to supply some more information that shows that the way I said to pronounce it is correct spanish).

http://www.mycigarsite.com/subopciones/opcion3a/opcion3aesp.html

http://www.granma.cu/espanol/2005/febrero/juev24/partagas.html

Here is another sight that is like the one that Joshua gave. It also has the correct pronunciation of Partagás.

http://www.simplycigars.co.uk/acata...gars.co.uk/acatalog/proguide.html&CatalogBody


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## Baric (Jun 14, 2006)

Good post, i didnt know how wrong i was getting some of these lol


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## Teninx (Apr 23, 2006)

I can barely spell "Tatajue" correctly, much less pronounce it. Yet I've got two cabinets in the coolerdor. And forget about "Cabiguan" or however it's spelled. If I ever walked into a B&M and the shopkeeper mocked me over pronunciation of a cigar....well, let's say I'd be a dissatisfied non-customer.


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

Teninx said:


> I can barely spell "Tatajue" correctly, much less pronounce it. Yet I've got two cabinets in the coolerdor. And forget about "Cabiguan" or however it's spelled. If I ever walked into a B&M and the shopkeeper mocked me over pronunciation of a cigar....well, let's say I'd be a dissatisfied non-customer.


Tatoo-Ah-hey and Cab-buy-guan 

:ms NCRM


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## pistol (Mar 23, 2006)

ToddziLLa said:


> I took 3 years of Spanish and I know how to say all of the names, however, being American and speaking English, I will say them in whatever way is easiest for me and/or the most "popular" pronunciation.
> 
> We don't punch immigrants in the face just because they say one of our words wrong. We know they are foreign and respect that. Cigar names, for the most part, are foreign to us Yankees.


Todd, good post, I agree, you should hear some of my buddies who have been stationed in Korea butcher Korean. What can i expect though? They are round eyes, so it's all good man! I don't mean to sound ignorant, and I do try to pronounce things the way should be, but I feel like an idiot saying "Choix Supreme" correctly. I am not all that concerned about pronouncing french words to standard anyway, so I just say "choiks supreme." Now, am I an ugly American? I don't know, but until the French learn how to say "Philly Cheesesteak" properly, I'm not going to lose sleep over my french mispronounciations!


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## IHT (Dec 27, 2003)

pistol said:


> Now, am I an ugly American?


YES.

and it's "schwa supreme", ass-master. :bx 
and they are "freedom fries and freedom toast"!!


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## The Bruce (Mar 7, 2006)

Being a Latino and a smart a$$ to boot I am amused with people who are pronunciation conscious in the Cigar World. 

It's OK to mispronounce foreign words, I do it all the time. Very rarely do people correct my English pronunciation.

When I buy Romeo and Julieta I ask for a Romeo and Juliet. The guys at the B&M quickly correct me. I glare back at them and for the rest of the visit I will only speak Spanish. Poor guys. It's funny to watch when you expect it. The B&M guys always send the new guys to help me out. I guess serving me is like paying their dues.


--
Erik


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## cigar no baka (Sep 7, 2005)

Well I'm gonna keep pronouncing them as I see fit, it's the US, so I don't bother to Spanglishize Spanish names since it's our country and we pronounce things the way Americans pronounce them.


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## palm55 (Jan 5, 2006)

An old friend of mine enjoys chain-smoking his "Svisher Svetes." Can you guess where he's from???


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